Dark Winged Angel
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: With Earth and Mon World finally peacefully conjoined, what's a no longer evil Dark Winged Angel to do? Please, read and review!
1. Default Chapter

**Dark Angel**

The child quivered in fear, clutching the flimsy wisps of her mother's dress. 

"He's evil! I'm scared!" 

The adult sylph looked up, slightly fearful herself that there was another invasion by the Realm of Evil. She'd lost many sisters in the last invasion. Her troubled eyes cleared slightly when she beheld Gabriolis. 

"Oh, honey!" she knelt and took the quivering child into her arms, "He's not evil!" 

"But he's so dark and evil-looking!" the child protested. 

Gabriolis knelt too, thinking to reduce his height which might seem fearsome to a frightened child. He smiled gently too. 

"Ahhh!" the child hid her face deeper in her mother's skirts and shivered uncontrollably. 

"I will go," Gabriolis told the mother, realizing that the child's fear had gone beyond what a few kind words could calm. 

"I'm sorry," the sylph replied, but Gabriolis could see the relief in her eyes too. He nodded his head and sprang up into the sky, opening the dark wings that had replaced the white ones he had been born with. 

He reflected as he flew to the remote point of land that had become his sanctuary and refuge from such misunderstandings all too often lately. 

He had been an angel of Light during the last invasion by the Realm of Evil. He had been honored and excited at being chosen as one of the defenders of the Upper Realm of Good. He remembered how his commander and friend Lark had laughed at his eagerness, while still trying to remind him that this was serious business. He had calmed down before the fight and fully realized the danger and importance of what they were doing. 

His caution didn't matter. He had been wounded, badly, in the very first attack and fallen to the ground in a remote area between the Realms of Good and Evil. 

Shortly after his fall, he felt the unmistakable rasp of a dog's tongue on his arm. He'd turned his head to see Doppelfanger, the two-headed guard dog standing over him. Lark's lithe form descended from above on extended wings. 

Gabriolis had been elated. Surely Lark would gather him up, take him home and help heal his broken wings. Certainly his best friend would help him. 

Lark's eyes had been distant when he looked at him. He kept back as he directed Doppelfanger to watch over Gabriolis. Lark then...left. 

Gabriolis didn't have a name for the feelings that filled his heart at that moment then...now he knew they were called rage, betrayal and despair. His best friend left him to die on a rock in a Realm not even their own! With only a monster dog to witness his passing! 

Redda had descended next, attacking and chasing off the faithful Doppelfanger and twisting Gabriolis' new and powerful emotions until Gabriolis had used those emotions to forsake the Light, deny his white wings and warp his form into the evil-seeming guise he now wore. 

Oh, Gabriolis had become truly evil. He had willingly followed Redda and done his evil bidding, attacking the Mon Colle Knights again and again. He'd tried to break their spirit, especially Mondo's, and their belief in the ultimate power of friendship. He had to. If he could do that, if Mondo and Rachna could feel the same despair that he had felt, if he could break their trust in their friends, he would be justified. It would be Lark who had made him become evil, not he. 

But he couldn't break them. And finally, it had been Mondo's extended hand of friendship, the extended arms and love of his sister, Spectra, and his own innately good nature that had brought him back to the Light. The dark and confusion in his soul had melted away when Spectra and the Angel of the Oceans had told him what had really happened that fateful day. Lark hadn't abandoned him. Lark had taken his place in the fight to defend him so that the side of Good would win. He'd left Doppelfanger behind to guard Gabriolis because he had known...Lark had known that he wouldn't return from that battle. 

Redda had taken the golden opportunity of an angel of Light weakened and confused, taken Gabriolis' naivety and brought him to work for the side of Evil. It was Redda who had betrayed him, not Lark. 

Since the time he'd finally realized that, Gabriolis had used his power only for good, helping Mondo and Rachna, guarding the outer perimeter of the Upper Kingdom, apologizing to Doppelfanger and numerous other actions to expiate the evil he had done while he was Redda's willing minion. 

He felt older and wiser, and his soul was again as light as it had been before he lost his white wings. Still... 

Gabriolis descended to the rocky point where his life had changed so drastically. Doppelfanger was away, perhaps hunting for his dinner. Gabriolis didn't mind. It was the solitude he was seeking. 

He brought forward and looked at the dark armored wing that was now his. He pulled a lock of the hair that was the same color as partially dried blood into his sight and reached up to touch one of his horns. He mystically removed the dark armored glove, armor that none of the Angels of Light had ever worn, and looked at the dusky purple hue of his skin. 

"I truly am a demon," he mused aloud. 

"Only in form. Not in heart," Spectra's soft tone said behind him. 

"Spectra," he greeted his little sister by her name, "But I..." 

"...I no longer belong in the Upper Realm..." he finished in a broken voice. 

"Oh, Gabriolis!" Spectra swept forward with those wonderfully open arms and embraced Gabriolis, dark wings, horns and all, "Of course you do! You are an Angel of Light, no matter what your form looks like!" 

"I terrify those who live there. Lark would hate to see what I have become. My foolish pride..." 

Gabriolis' head slumped to his sister's shoulder. A moment later, his shoulders shook with the force of the sorrow he still tried to contain. 

"You've never cried," Spectra told him softly, bending her knees and bringing Gabriolis down to the ground partially in her lap, "Never cried for Lark, never cried for yourself. It's time to let the tears go, so that you can start to heal." 

His first anguished wail was painful, echoing across the rocky peak. Spectra brought her wings forward to enclose her brother. She held him across her lap and made for him a haven to express his sorrow. He finally cried himself out, and like an innocent child, slept. 

Spectra played gently with the locks of his hair. Though the color was wrong, deepened from the rosy-dawn tone his tresses had been, they were still angel-soft as his hair should be. Her hand brushed across one of his horns and Spectra realized for the first time that it was bone that had somehow pushed out from her brother's head. A glance at where his wing quivered across her knees as he slept showed that the armor plating across the top was an extrusion of bone as well. She shivered slightly; Gabriolis' transformation appeared to have been agonizingly painful. 

Something pushed against her hand. Spectra looked up from studying her brother to see Doppelfanger begging to be pet, just as a normal dog would. 

"Of course!" she whispered to the dog, stroking his heads and scratching behind all four ears. The poor dog was in heaven, entranced by her touch. Spectra wondered if anyone ever came here anymore, except for Gabriolis. The poor beast was probably lonely! Doppelfanger finally curled up, leaned into Gabriolis' side and napped himself. 

"Somehow, I must find a way to bring peace to my brother. Gabriolis has suffered enough!" Spectra thought in her inmost mind. The Light that exists within all angels agreed and Spectra had a faint impression of two words, "Fear not!" 

The rainbows that were her responsibility could wait. Spectra cradled her older brother during the first peaceful sleep he had since his transformation and wondered how she could help him. 

"Spectra Angel?" a soft, still somewhat childish voice brought Spectra out of her musings. She looked up into Rachna's wide green eyes. 

"Hello, Rachna, hello, Mondo," she greeted them, "What brings you here?" 

"I felt...a call...almost. To come here," Rachna explained. 

"Oh. I'm sorry. I was just thinking how I could help Gabriolis. I didn't mean to summon you!" 

Spectra knew that since the successful and peaceful merging of Mon World and Earth, Mondo and Rachna were important to Mon World. They were still active as the Mon Colle Knights, coming to Mon World to assist whenever they were needed. Since they functioned for the side of Good, they were especially sensitive to those of the Upper Realm, coming at a moment's notice. Spectra hadn't meant to summon them. 

"Gabriolis needs help?" Mondo asked. Spectra had to smile gently. When he was still evil, Gabriolis had made breaking Mondo's trust in his friends his quest. Mondo had never let that deter him, instead, helping to bring Gabriolis back to the Light simply by offering the friendship that Gabriolis had felt betrayed him. She wondered if, accidentally summoned as they were or not, the Mon Colle Knights could somehow help Gabriolis now. 

"Even though he has returned with his whole heart to Good and the Light, Gabriolis stills appears like this," Spectra cleared her wings to reveal Gabriolis sleeping across her lap. Rachna's eyes softened to see the fearsome Dark Winged Angel so peaceful, "It is causing him pain now, in the Upper Realm, isolating him from the support and love that he should expect as an Angel of Light. He doesn't blame those who now fear him, I know...but..." 

"But," Mondo knelt himself and gently brushed a lock of hair from Gabriolis' face, "he feels like he doesn't belong. I've wondered why he didn't transform back... I've always wondered what he looked like before..." 

"Oh! He was beautiful!" Spectra enthused in the way of all siblings, "My older brother had the softest white wings, the prettiest blue eyes and the color of his hair made me think of the rose of dawn." 

"Wow!" Rachna breathed, "That does sound beautiful!" she observed as she looked down on how Gabriolis appeared now. 

Mondo couldn't quite envision it. Gabriolis looked too strong and too...warlike to him to ever appear so...effeminate. Of course, he did understand how Gabriolis would not really fit in with the denizens of the Upper Realm now, appearing as he did. Truly, the only place he would look like he belonged would be the Realm of Evil. Mondo shivered. There was no way Gabriolis should ever return there! 

There was no way he could ever appear on Earth either. Some of the more normal monsters and the human-appearing inhabitants of Mon World would sometimes visit Earth. There were a few areas where the people knew that the monsters who visited weren't dangerous, but most of Earth didn't understand or even know about the merge with Mon World. The angels were careful about letting people see them when they visited to make certain that nothing happened to disrupt the peace of Earth. Mondo wondered if there truly was no place at all for his friend anymore, except this sad and lonely mountain peak. 

"But now..." Spectra looked down at her brother again, "If he had been the angel he was, he couldn't have helped you, Mon Colle Knights. He is...fearsome now, but his transformation brought power that has helped the side of Good too. If he were to return to who he was before...that power would be lost. I think, that is one reason he hasn't turned back. And another...he doesn't feel he is worthy to be an angel of Light again. He is good again...but his soul is still tortured. I wish he could find peace." 

While Mondo and Rachna looked with kindness upon her brother, Spectra pondered the powers and magic she could use. She couldn't see how any of them could help her brother, but she had witnessed, all the angels had, how the Mon Colle Knights could bring forth the full potential of any monster they merged with. She had been elated when Gabriolis had, in his own arrogant way, asked the Knights to merge with him against the Dread Dragon. 

"That was..." Mondo began. 

"It wouldn't help..." Rachna replied. Evidently the Knights were communicating in the special way they had, soul to soul. 

"Spectra Angel..." Rachna hesitated. 

"Could we...merge with you? Maybe there is a way to help Gabriolis!" Mondo, as always, charged forward decisively. 

Spectra considered for a moment, then eased Gabriolis' head and shoulders to the ground next to Doppelfanger. When she stood, she towered over the Knights, who took a step back in trepidation, evidently wondering if perhaps they had insulted her. 

"What do I do?" she asked. 

"Oh! You will let us?! Thank you, Spectra Angel!" Rachna replied. 

"Don't worry! We'll do it all!" Mondo added. 

The magic that was theirs alone, the ability to merge their spirits with a creature of Mon World flared. 

"With us...you can...do it!" Spectra felt their two souls align with hers, increasing her abilities to their ultimate extent. She felt as though each one, Rachna and Mondo, were by her side, helping her with their entire being. Infused with their supportive power, she looked over at Gabriolis. 

Wings cupped around her brother defensively, wings very similar to her own. 

"Who?!" 

A bowed head raised and stunned angel eyes looked into hers. 

"Well met, Spectra! You can see me?!" 

"LARK!" Spectra called, dashing forward to embrace her friend. She passed right through him. 

"I have no substance, as you can see," Lark apologized, indicating his translucent form, "But I have watched over Gabriolis ever since..." 

"So you know all that he has been through," Spectra realized. 

"Yes. My poor friend! If I had known I would have..." 

"You did what you had to do. Even if you had known, you would have done what needed to be done. None of us faults you for that! Even Gabriolis understands," Spectra comforted, "If not for your sacrifice...we would have lost the battle for the Upper Realm." 

"But Gabriolis is still paying a heavy price." 

Spectra looked at her brother again. 

"There has to be something we can do!" Mondo's resolve was firm in Spectra. 

"Spectra Angel, surely there is something you can do while we are helping you!" Rachna added. 

"Hello, Mon Colle Knights," Lark addressed them. 

"You...you know we are here?!" Mondo asked. 

"Oh, yes. And I cannot thank you enough for helping to bring Gabriolis back to the side of Good," Lark smiled down at Gabriolis again, "And you, Spectra." 

"I never stopped loving my older brother," Spectra replied. 

"Yes...love..." Lark mused, "That might be the key..." 

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Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get! 

stargarde@stargarde.com 


	2. Chapter Two

**Dark Winged Angel - Chapter Two**

"What? A slumber party? And you did not wake me?" Gabriolis grumbled when he woke up and scrambled out from under his sister's wing. 

"What happened here?" he asked in rising alarm, spying the Mon Colle Knights under Spectra's protective wing too. He couldn't rouse Spectra or either Mondo or Rachna, though all three appeared to simply sleep. Doppelfanger crept out from under the wing and whimpered as he approached. 

"What happened, Doppelfanger? They appear to just be sleeping..." Gabriolis observed, petting the dog. "I will watch and guard them until they wake, then. Though nothing ever comes to this place except for you, my friend." 

Doppelfanger rested at his feet while Gabriolis kept watch. 

A short time later, Spectra's wing quivered and withdrew. Gabriolis reached an arm down to help her up. 

"What happened?" he asked. 

"Oh, Gabriolis! Are you...okay?" 

"Oh. I'm not going to weaken into tears again. But...thank you," Gabriolis replied. Spectra smiled at him. 

"Why are they here? What happened that the Mon Colle Knights would come here? Did I miss something?" 

Spectra thought that Gabriolis had missed a great deal, her meeting with Lark and powering Lark to go to Earth, but thought it best to not mention that to her brother just yet, "Oh, I inadvertently summoned them. You know how sensitive they are to angels! When they got here, they became very tired, I did too, and we fell asleep. Nothing more alarming than that!" Spectra glanced at the sword clasped in Gabriolis' hand. 

"Oh! Very well then. But..." Gabriolis sheathed his sword, leaned over and picked Rachna up, "Perhaps the ground is too rocky for them to sleep on?" 

"You are right," Spectra rubbed her shoulder. "It is hard!" she reached down herself and picked up Mondo. "Sleeping in angels' arms should be more comfortable!" 

"For Mondo anyway," Gabriolis muttered under his breath. Almost on cue, Rachna stirred in his arms. Her green eyes opened, a smile started on her face and then she focused her eyes. 

"Eeep!" she screamed a tiny scream. "Oh, it's you, Gabriolis! That gave me a fright!" she said. 

"Oh!" she clasped her hands to her mouth. "I didn't mean...that is...uhm...I'm used to my dad or Lovestar waking me up!" 

"Oh? My face is more scary than you dad's?" Gabriolis made light of her unintended insult. 

"Well, it is certainly more impressive!" Rachna replied. "I don't think I'd find it scary to wake up in your arms again...if it should happen a second time!" she promised. 

"We'll see, Mon Colle Knight!" Gabriolis swung her feet around to set her on the ground. She squeezed his arm briefly as an apology before letting go. Rachna walked over to where Mondo was still sleeping peacefully in Spectra's arms and grabbed his ear. 

"C'mon, sleepyhead! It's time to go!" she shouted in an energetic voice. 

"Wha...?! Rachna! Just give me five more minutes..." 

"No! We have to go back home! We've studying and schoolwork and I have to make that casserole tonight!" 

"Oh! You'll remember to put extra tuna and chocolate sauce on it this time, right?" 

"And the special ingredient!" 

Spectra and Gabriolis watched as they bantered and walked down a little ways to the Utopian Eagle. A moment later, Mondo rolled the wings overhead as the portal formed and the ship returned to Earth. 

"I should go," Spectra said. "I've been away from my duties long enough. Do you want to return to the Upper Kingdom with me, Gabriolis?" 

"No," Gabriolis reached down to pet the faithful Doppelfanger again, "I should try to find Lucca. He can't come to the Upper Kingdom at all. And I do want a few minutes to be by myself...no offense, Spectra!" 

Spectra smiled, knowing all her brother had to endure, "None taken. Just remember..." 

"Eh?" Gabriolis turned to look up into his sister's face. 

"Just remember...you have an angel watching over you!" Spectra sprang up into the air and flew up out of sight. 

"An angel who is a little sister," Gabriolis agreed under his breath. 

******** 

"Dad! Dad!" 

"Rachna! I just had the most interesting...well I guess you could call it a dream..." 

"It was Lark, wasn't it? We know all about it! What can we do to help?" 

"Oh! I was thinking that it would be great to make Gabriolis a scientist, just like me, but Lark pointed out that Gabriolis simply doesn't have the knowledge for such a life..." 

"Dad!" Rachna protested. 

"So what did you plan for him, Professor?" Mondo asked. 

"He's going to be a teacher of Mon World studies at your school and live in this town. I've already found a house for him and started to set up an identity. I was thinking of calling him 'Hiiragi Genius', but Lark suggested leaving him with his own name. Of course, he still needs a last name..." 

"How about...'Knight'?" Mondo suggested. "After all, that's pretty much what he's been since becoming good again." 

"Mondo! That's a great last name! I think he'll like it!" 

"What's to like? He won't know about it. He'll think his last name has always been Knight!" Mondo retorted. 

"When he recovers his memory and returns to Mon World I mean!" Rachna clarified. 

"Oh...well, he might never recover his memory and return," Hiiragi told them. 

"What?!" 

"Never recover..." Rachna covered her mouth in horror. 

"That's why I have to make as complete a background as possible for him. Lark explained it to me. The only way Gabriolis will recall who he is or any of his life on Mon World is if it no longer causes him heartache. He might be so happy here he wouldn't want to remember." 

"Oh..." Mondo thought about it. Never see Gabriolis charge across the sky, faster even than the Utopian Eagle's sky sled? Never merge with Gabriolis again to make the Justice Sword and Red Magic Battle Spell? Never see those dark wings, red eyes or noble expression, never hear that deep yet concerned voice that teased so gently now... Mondo found a tear slipping from his eyes. 

"Oh...Mondo..." Rachna's eyes showed the same almost-horror that Mondo felt. 

"But he would have a place...and he would have peace...wouldn't it be selfish of us to take that away from him?" 

"But do we really have the right to make this kind of decision for him?" Rachna countered. 

"It's not as if we could ask him what he wants. If we do that, it won't work," Hiiragi pointed out. 

"Let's ask Spectra Angel. She is his sister after all," Rachna suggested. 

"And it was Lark, his best friend, who came up with this idea. Let's not forget that!" Mondo agreed. 

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Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get! 

stargarde@stargarde.com 


	3. Chapter Three

**Dark Winged Angel - Chapter Three**

Mondo did what had never been done. He flipped up the cover and toggled the switch that Professor Hiiragi had told him to never, NEVER touch. The Utopian Eagle halted in its headlong flight and hung in the nothingness between the worlds. 

"One last time, Spectra Angel," Mondo said with unaccustomed seriousness. "Do we really want to do this to him?" 

Spectra looked down at her brother, held in her sleep spell, cradled across her lap. She touched the horn that erupted through his hair and brushed her fingers lightly across his cheek. She recalled how he had appeared, joyful and innocent, before Redda had turned him. She recalled the pain on Gabriolis' face when he told her he no longer belonged in the Upper Kingdom of the Realm of Good. 

"Let us give my dear brother a chance to find a place and happiness for himself. If he must forget me..." Spectra's throat suddenly closed with the tears she refused to shed. There was a very real chance that Gabriolis would be content enough in the false life crafted for him on Earth that he would never regain his memory of Mon World, or of her. The tears swam in her eyes. 

"If he must forget me..." she stopped again. The two Mon Colle Knights looked at her with deep compassion. "If he does...please, watch over him and make sure that he does find the peace and happiness he deserves." 

"Spectra Angel...you must love him very much," Rachna stated. 

"I do. He is my brother," she replied as if it explained it all. 

"With so much love waiting patiently for him...I'm certain Gabriolis will remember and return to Mon World!" Rachna declared. 

"That is my fondest hope, beyond that for his happiness. But I will be content if he no longer suffers. Even if he must forget all about me." 

Spectra leaned over and kissed Gabriolis. A moment later she lifted him to embrace him, holding him tightly against her heart. Finally, she settled him gently against the deck and stood. 

"Let us do this," she decided. 

"With us...you can...do it," Mondo and Rachna joined Spectra Angel once more, increasing her power to where she could see the insubstantial Lark grasping Gabriolis' shoulder. Lark was as gently sorrowful as she, regretful that this was the only way to help his friend. 

"If you love something..." he began. 

"...Set it free..." Spectra continued. 

"If it comes back, it is yours..." Rachna intuited the next part of the angels' quote. 

"If not, it never was," Mondo finished it. "But I think Gabriolis will come back to you! Both of you love him so much!" 

"He can't know of my love," Lark sighed ruefully. "It is only because of you, Mon Colle Knights, that Spectra is even able to see me and know that I watch over Gabriolis still. There is no way Gabriolis could know." 

"We could tell him," Rachna offered. 

"No, thank you, but no. I see what happened when I left him behind once before. I don't want to put him through that kind of pain again, even if he does find his happiness and comes to remember his life on Mon World. It is better if he never knows," Lark smiled gently. 

"It is time. Come, Spectra, Rachna, Mondo, let us do this thing and pray that it is the right thing to do!" 

Though she couldn't touch him, Spectra reached her hands out for Lark to take. 

"In this between place, if you allow, we can all be in the same plane at the same time," Lark told her. 

"Truly?!" Spectra exclaimed. Lark nodded. 

"Then, let us! Lark...I have missed you too!" Spectra cried. 

"I know. It has been very hard on you too, dear Spectra. Losing me, and then, losing Gabriolis as you did. I am impressed that you never gave up the hope that you would recover him. In the end, that hope, and your love, along with Mondo and Rachna's friendship is what saved him." 

The ship melted away. Mondo and Rachna, in the merge with Spectra Angel, hardly noticed it, except that their surroundings completely disappeared. The only things they could see, were Spectra and Lark, talking face to face, and Gabriolis, stretched out upon nothingness. Lark stepped forward and took Spectra into his arms. She sobbed at his touch and clutched to him tightly. 

"Oh, Lark! I've missed you so much!" 

"Dear Spectra," Lark stroked through her hair. "I can't explain, I am not permitted to, but I am still able to guard Gabriolis. And you. Even if he never recalls who he is, I will always watch over Gabriolis. And you...as your power increases I think you will sometimes be able to notice me watching over you." 

"It's not the same as having you lead us, the Angels of the Upper Kingdom, but...it comforts me," Spectra finally admitted. 

"Then it is good. Now, before we no longer have the strength to do so..." Lark set Spectra free of his embrace. "Come Knights. You share this space with us, because of your merge with Spectra. Each of you, take my hands." 

Mondo stepped forward, amazed to find that he was solid-seeming in this place. Rachna followed. Lark extended one hand toward each of them. Mondo reached forward to find that Lark's hand was as solid as he was. Rachna took Lark's other hand. 

"Let us surround Gabriolis with our love," Lark directed. He was so solemn that the statement wasn't as icky-sweet as it could have been. Spectra reached for Mondo's free hand and led him toward where Gabriolis still floated eerily in space. She reached down and closed their circle by taking Rachna's free hand. 

"Send all your power to Lark," she directed. "And mine too. As long as our circle is closed, Lark can tap our powers as if they were his own." Spectra began to send her power through their circle toward Lark. 

Mondo, along with Rachna, already in merge with Spectra Angel, felt as if they were creating a new merge with Lark. He felt Lark's deep regret at what they had to do as if it was his own. The love he felt from both angels toward Gabriolis made his feelings of friendship seem feeble in comparison. 

"No, Mondo, Rachna, do not belittle what you feel by comparing it with what we feel," Lark said aloud. "Angels love in a different way than humans are capable of understanding. It does not mean that we love more, it is just different. The friendship you feel for Gabriolis is vital to making this work!" 

"Believe that! It is the truth!" Spectra added. "Gabriolis is very fortunate to have found friends like you. Now, focus on Gabriolis and the friendship you feel for him and let Lark use that to do what he must!" 

Lark looked down upon Gabriolis sleeping in the void between the worlds and locked his memories of Mon World away. He then placed the outline of the life Hiiragi had made for him deep within Gabriolis' mind, knowing that the magic would impel Gabriolis to flesh out the details. Finally, he pulled almost all the power from Spectra, Mondo and Rachna, dropped Rachna's and Mondo's hands and knelt next to Gabriolis. 

He gently touched Gabriolis' wings and they disappeared. The horns too vanished at his touch. At Lark's touch the dark purple armor that Gabriolis wore changed into a set of casual clothes. Lark looked for a long moment at the changes he'd wrought in his friend. 

"Your hair color exists on Earth," he muttered. "But the length won't do for your new life." His touch shortened the hair, coaxing it into a modern carefree style. "The original tone of your skin, though fair, does work for Earth people though." 

Spectra's hands clutched convulsively around Mondo and Rachna's. Each of them squeezed back, offering mute support. 

"And I mustn't forget your eyes. Red does not suit for Earth any more than it ever suited for you, my friend," Lark dropped a graceful hand across Gabriolis' closed eyes. "Be restored to your original color as well!" 

Lark stepped back, regarding the changes he'd forced upon Gabriolis. He then looked toward Mondo and Rachna. 

"Will it do?" 

"Yes. He looks as though he could have been born on Earth," Mondo claimed. 

"Oh, Lark! If we could just take him this way back to the Upper Kingdom!" Spectra cried out. 

"We can't. He must now find a new life on Earth." 

Spectra sobbed, dropped both hands held in hers, dropped to her knees and cried against Gabriolis' chest. 

"Be happy. Be well, brother!" She stood again, dashed the tears from her eyes and composed herself. 

"Do take care of him, Mon Colle Knights. He is very dear to me." 

"We will!" Mondo promised. Rachna added, "Someday surely he will return to you!" 

"I hope so. I pray so. That day will come sooner, dear Lark, if you would...send him on his way," Spectra reached for Rachna's and Mondo's hands again. 

Lark knelt himself, stroked one hand through Gabriolis' shortened hair and placed his other hand upon Gabriolis' chest. 

"Enter your new life, Gabriolis Knight, and find peace!" 

Under his hand Gabriolis glowed brightly and disappeared. 

"I will leave too, so I can watch him settle into his new world," Lark told them. "But remember, dear Spectra, you are never as alone as you seem!" Lark vanished. 

"We should take you back to Mon World," Mondo suggested as the interior of the Utopian Eagle formed around them again. 

"Yes. Now, I must hope and...wait," Spectra agreed. 

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Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get! 

stargarde@stargarde.com 


	4. Chapter Four

**Dark Winged Angel - Chapter Four**

"Where?! Where is he?!" Spectra tried to focus on the form buzzing around her head, "Where is Gabriolis?!" 

Mondo and Rachna had dropped her off here, Doppelfanger's Mountain, as she had asked. Spectra wanted a few minutes to make sure her feelings were safely under control before she returned to the Upper Kingdom. 

"Lucca? Is that you?" 

"Yes! I need to find Gabriolis, right away! Where is he?!" 

"He's...it's hard to explain. He's on the Earth now, but he's not..." 

"Earth?! Oh...how am I gonna get there?!" Lucca popped all around the mountain top in frantic teleport jumps in his anxiety. 

"Lucca! Calm down and tell me why it's so important you go to Gabriolis!" Spectra finally commanded. 

"I need to get to Gabriolis, soon, or I will..." 

"Yes?" 

"Never mind! It can't matter to you!" Lucca lashed out. 

"Lucca, I know you are a friend of my brother's. If you are in some sort of trouble, I will help you," Spectra promised, wondering as she did so if she could help a denizen of the Realm of Evil. "Why is it important that you find Gabriolis?" 

"He...he's my Master," Lucca whispered. 

"Master? Surely Gabriolis hasn't kept you in subjugation since he returned to the Light!" Spectra was appalled. 

"No, nothing like that! Actually, he never did subjugate me, even when he was evil. Unlike others I could mention!" Lucca glared on general principles. "No...I mean, I am Gabriolis' Familiar. That is how he is my Master." 

"Oh!" Spectra wondered at that. The Angels of Light didn't keep lesser creatures to do their bidding, but Spectra knew about Familiars anyway. 

"So you need to find him and be near him or..." 

"I will fade away. So please, Spectra, take me to where Gabriolis is! Unless...he doesn't want me around anymore..." Spectra wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a tear form in the imp's eye. 

"Gabriolis is on the Earth, but he doesn't remember any of his life on Mon World right now. Seeing you would only disrupt...we are trying to free him from the last remnants of evil," Spectra finished. 

"Oh. And I'm evil so that would include me. I understand..." Lucca turned as if he would go, then faltered out of the sky to land on the ground. "I can't return to the Realm of Evil though! As it is, I have to hide when I go there or they will kill me!" 

"Why would they kill you? And why return at all if you don't want to?" Spectra asked, wondering that she felt such pity for the small evil creature. She reminded herself that he was Gabriolis' friend...and somehow that friendship had survived Gabriolis' return to good. There must be more to the imp than she realized. 

"Oh...I had been one of Redda's army, but when he turned Gabriolis he wanted him watched. He commanded me to watch and report on Gabriolis' activity at all times, so I was forced to hang around with him." 

Spectra smiled to hear the slight resentment in the imp's voice. 

"Gabriolis wasn't exactly nice to me, but even though he threatened me a lot, he never did hurt me...unlike Redda. Since he was still more or less following Redda's orders, I didn't report it when he did things that weren't quite evil. Like letting Doppelfanger live, helping the Mon Colle Knights against that Eccentro guy or freeing a demon from a tar pit before he could sink..." 

Spectra reflected that even though he had tried to become evil, Gabriolis' soul had never slipped entirely into Evil's clutches. It made her hopeful that he could somehow gain the peace they had sent him to Earth to find. 

"How was I to know that by keeping Gabriolis' activities secret I bound myself to him as his Familiar?!" Lucca cried out. "But...I don't want to rejoin the Army of Evil either...so...they try to kill me whenever I return to the Realm of Evil." 

"So why do you go to the Realm of Evil at all?" 

"I can feel it as the days pass...I get weak, even if I am with Gabriolis. I have to return, for a few hours at least. I'm afraid if I don't...I'll fade away. Gabriolis isn't evil anymore, so staying by his side isn't enough...even though he is still my Master," Lucca explained. "If I stay away from Gabriolis for too long I get weak too. It was easier when he was still evil...but he is even nicer to me now than he was then, though I do miss being around him sometimes when he goes to the Upper Realm...since I can't go there..." 

Spectra realized that her brother had partially pulled Lucca, evil imp though he was, from the thrall of Evil too. 

"Come here," she commanded, opening her hand toward him. 

Lucca looked up at her suspiciously. 

"I won't hurt you!" she promised. 

"No...you aren't going to do anything mushy, are you? Gabriolis was never mushy...even though I knew..." 

Spectra smiled at the unfinished sentence, "Even though you knew he cares about you. How could I do less? He is my brother and you are his friend. I want to help you." 

Spectra was surprised to see longing on the imp's face at her words, despite his protestations. 

"Nothing mushy," she promised to make it easy for Lucca to accept her help. "In fact, it's not at all a nice thing I plan to do!" 

"Really? But you are good..." as she had hoped, the lure of mischief brought Lucca to within her reach. 

"Oh, it's still a good thing I'm planning, but nothing says I have to be nice about it!" 

She lunged and grabbed Lucca from the air. "Poor little imp!" She couldn't quite cackle, but she did drop her voice, "Bound to evil and Gabriolis, caught in the middle of a tug-of-war! Let's loosen at least one of those bonds!" 

Spectra brought her magic to bear on the imp. It wasn't hard at all to break his dependence upon the emanation of Evil, Lucca's desire to be Gabriolis' Familiar, despite his reluctant attitude, had almost broken it anyway. Of course, that didn't mean that being forcibly torn from that dependence didn't still hurt. 

"There!" Spectra forced herself to behave as if Lucca's cries weren't tearing at her, knowing that Lucca would be mortified if she showed him the least token of sympathy. "But we can't have a rogue Familiar running free either!" she decided. She invoked a Spectral Field around the peak of Doppelfanger's Mountain. The new emanation supplanted the imp's dependence upon Evil, easing the pain that being ripped from Evil had caused. His sobs ceased. 

"Until such time as Gabriolis comes to claim you, you are my creature now. You must remain here and watch over Doppelfanger. You may leave this field only with him and must remain with him when away from the peak at all times. If you try to escape, you will feel that familiar weakness until you return, for now you are dependent upon my Spectral Magic. Do you understand?" 

Lucca, his eyes wide with shock, nodded. "You weren't nice at all!" he accused, then grinned, "I LIKE it!" 

---------------------- 

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get! 

stargarde@stargarde.com 


	5. Chapter Five

Author's notes - 

I'm sorry to have left this story for so long without updates. Part of the problem is that I'm very unsatisfied with some of the connecting chapters here. I've worked and reworked them and I still don't think they flow properly. I do wish someone would license, translate and release Mon Colle Knights, or at least someone would fan sub it! It's so much easier to write fan fiction when there is something solid to work with! Ah well. Please bear with me and the weakness of some of these chapters. I hope that on balance this still becomes a good story! 

--- 

**Chapter Five**

"It really is amazing! If I didn't know better, I'd think he really was just a human being!" Hiiragi declared. 

"Yeah. Both Mondo and I are in his class too. I wonder how he's going to be as a teacher?" Rachna wondered. 

"Well, he does know Mon World inside out. Better than me, perhaps...no...that's not possible! I'm the foremost expert on Mon World!" 

"Oh, dad!" Rachna giggled. "It isn't a competition!" 

"True, true," Hiiragi agreed. "Still, the power necessary to change Gabriolis that way. It must have been incredible!" 

"It was, dad. It really was." Rachna's reply was a little sad. 

-------- 

She was running late for her first day of the new term. She really knew she should stop dawdling, figure out where she was and find her first class, but the sky was that particular shade of blue that was her favorite. She slowed and lifted her eyes to gaze at the sky while her feet still carried her in the direction she hoped she would lead to where she was supposed to be. 

She collided with someone. 

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Arms closed around her helping her to keep her balance. She looked up into the face of her rescuer and lost her breath. 

His eyes were just a shade or two darker than the sky she'd been staring at. Deep auburn hair just a little too short to curl surrounded his face. His skin was like purest alabaster, and his face...was the visage of an angel. 

Shaking herself out of her poetic thoughts she exclaimed, "No, I'm sorry! It was my fault!" 

"No, I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going..." the gorgeous man replied. 

"I was looking at the sky!" they both finished. 

"Really?" 

"You were?" 

They laughed a little nervously at the questions asked in unison. 

"It..." the woman began hesitantly, to make certain she wasn't interrupting him again, "It is my favorite color right now. I wasn't looking where I was going. Not that it helps, I'm lost anyway." she muttered. 

"It is my favorite color too. Doesn't it look...inviting somehow? Like we could...somehow...play in the sky?" he laughed a little at his odd question. 

"No...I think I know what you mean," the woman replied slowly. 

He looked down into her face and didn't find the half-expected condescending expression he feared would be there. Instead, he thought she really was understanding what he was trying to say, though he wasn't quite certain what he meant himself. 

"I...uhm...need to find this classroom..." she struggled a little to free her hand from the loose hold the man still had on her from saving her from falling down. 

"Oh! Pardon me!" he said as he set her back on her feet and let his arms fall away from her shoulders. 

"You wouldn't happen to know where room 14D is?" she asked reading the paper clasped in her hand. 

His smile was delightedly sweet. "Follow me. It's across the hall from my room," the man replied. 

"Amazing! Saving me twice in two minutes!" she laughed. "I'm Selene Daniels." 

"Gabriolis Knight," he responded. 

"So well named!" she laughed. "Nice to know I have a knight so close by if I need it!" 

"Just across the hall!" Gabriolis surprised himself by agreeing. 

"So...what do you teach? I try to teach the English that the children find sooo boring!" her imitation of a child almost whining was right on the mark. 

"I teach Mon World Studies," Gabriolis admitted. 

"Oh! How interesting!" 

"Well, here we are," Gabriolis indicated 14D. As promised, his room, 14A, was just across the hall. 

"Good luck!" Selene called out breezily before entering her room. 

-------- 

"I must say, both of your papers are the most interesting for me to read!" Selene observed. 

"More casserole, Miss Daniels?" Professor Hiiragi offered. Selene shook her head 'no' rather emphatically and glanced across the table to smile ruefully into Gabriolis' eyes. She broke her gaze before either of them started laughing. "So you grade your papers on how interesting they are? Isn't that a bit...unprofessional?" 

"Professor Hiiragi, first of all, I've asked you to call me Selene," Selene began. She paused to give him a chance to offer her the use of his first name. Some variation of this conversation played out almost every time Mondo and Rachna's teachers had occasion to pay a social visit. 

"It won't happen," Rachna advised. "Dad is very proud of his degree!" 

Selene hid her smile. "Very well, then. Professor, of course I grade the papers on the basis of grammar, construction, relevance and all the other things you'd expect. It's just the papers that Mondo and Rachna write are more apt to wake me up, rather than to put me to sleep!" 

"I see, I see," Hiiragi stood up and started pacing about the dining room. As this was their sixth time as dinner guests in Rachna and Mondo's home, neither Gabriolis or Selene found anything weird in the Professor's mannerisms. Well, they were weird, just not worth worrying about. 

"And your class?" Professor Hiiragi turned abruptly on Gabriolis. "They are doing well in their Mon World Studies course?" 

"Reasonably well," Gabriolis replied. "They have a few deep-seated views about some aspects of Mon World that are incorrect, but over-all they are doing quite well." 

"'Incorrect'? 'Incorrect'?! I taught them about Mon World! What is 'incorrect'?!" Hiiragi huffed. 

"First of all the balance. They have the erroneous view that it is maintained among only four Realms..." 

"Earth, Air, Fire and Water!" the Professor interrupted. "What's wrong about that?!" 

"You are completely discounting the delicate, interdependent balance of the Realms of Good, Evil and Time since all three impact on the cardinal elemental realms..." Gabriolis paused to take a breath and marshall his thoughts. 

"Oh, heavens!" Selene exclaimed accurately reading the beginnings of one of the somewhat heated discussions that Hiiragi and Gabriolis loved to indulge in. "Realm-speak! Why do we always wind up on this topic whenever we have dinner here?!" 

She stood up, put her hands on her hips and glared at both debaters. "Neither one of you knows how to simply reach an agreement on this do you?" she demanded. 

"He's wrong," Gabriolis said flatly. 

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Hiiragi stated at the same time. 

"Uhm...Professor?" Mondo spoke up. 

"Yes, Mondo?" 

"He uhm...probably does, if you know what I mean." Mondo fanned both his hands out to his sides and tipped his head toward Gabriolis. 

"Ah, yes! I keep forgetting! It's the coloration change, you see, it throws me off!" Hiiragi stammered. 

"What the heck is that gesture supposed to mean?!" Gabriolis demanded of Mondo. 

"Uhm...that you are an official teacher of Mon World Studies and not just a dabbler as dad is!" Rachna hastened to explain. 

"'Dabbler'? 'Dabbler'?!" Hiiragi stuttered. 

"Come on, Dad!" Rachna hauled on her father's arm to make him follow her. "We should do the dishes and see if there are enough left-overs to make lunches for Miss Daniels and Mr. Knight!" 

"You know they are going out somewhere else to actually eat dinner," Mondo observed as Professor Hiiragi, Rachna and he waved good-bye to Gabriolis and Selene. "Wish I was going with them!" he added in a low voice. 

"Yes, they just don't appreciate our cuisine!" Hiiragi replied. "Why, Mondo! I thought you loved our cooking!" 

At the end of the long driveway, Gabriolis placed his arm on Selene's shoulders and drew her closer to him. 

"Aww!" Rachna gushed. "So romantic! Mondo, why don't we ever walk that way?!" 

"Because people would look at us funny and try to break us up. We will...when we are a bit older!" Mondo promised. 

"Oh, Mondo!" Rachna leaned into his side. 

"So it appears the spell on Gabriolis has had a perfect effect," Hiiragi noted. "He doesn't recall his life on Mon World at all, he thinks he is a person born on Earth, and he has fallen in love. As Spectra Angel wished, he has found his peace at last." 

"Yeah. It's a quiet, though happy, life for Gabriolis," Mondo agreed. 

"It's kinda too bad he had to forget all about himself to find it," Rachna mused. "But I am glad he did find it! We better get our homework done, Mondo. We have papers in both of their classes due at the end of the week!" 

------------------- 

Author's notes - 

I'd been getting bogged down trying to write about the romance between Gabriolis and Selene. Quite honestly, it's not important to the story, so I finally stopped. As long as this chapter serves to demonstrate that Gabriolis has settled into a quiet life on Earth as a teacher, and has fallen in love with a human woman, it's served it's purpose.


End file.
